St Gregory's School (Dhaka)

School buildings

St. Gregory's High School, Bangladesh, is a Catholic High School founded in Dhaka, British India, in 1882 by Father Gregory de Groote, a Belgian Benedictine priest and ex-student of Dhaka Collegiate School. The school, located on Subhas Bose Avenue of Luxmibazar neighborhood of old Dhaka, was named after Pope Gregory I (540-604) who is also a saint. Brother Robi Purification is the principal of the school.

In 1888, the American priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross took over the Vicariate of East Bengal from the Benedictine Fathers. At the time, Mr. and Mrs. Wise — who were Protestants — ran a school at present Wiseghat area near the River Buriganga. In this school, most of the students were of European and Anglo-Indian Catholic communities. Anglican and Baptist pastors were allowed to teach religion at this school. Father Francis Boers,C.S.C. tried many times to be a teacher of Catholic religion to the Catholic students at the school, but was not allowed. Out of frustration, he started an English-medium school on the grounds of the present adjoining St. Francis Xavier's Convent and girls' high school, that came into being later. The renamed St. Gregory's School shifted to the present site in 1896.

Until 1912, both boys and girls were students of St. Gregory's High School. When St. Francis Xavier Girls' School came into being in 1912, it became a boys' school. After creation of Pakistan in 1947, the school started the Bengali medium section. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the school has only a Bengali medium section.

Students of the school are known as " the Gregorians". The "Gregorian Association" is the official alumni club of this school.

Early in 1914, a one story building was torn down to make room for the present “Darjeeling “building and the latrines. Also the scout troop, the first in Dhaka, was started and had 40 scouts. Bengali replaced Latin as a second language in 1915. Later that year Father Crowley resigned as headmaster.

In 1998 St. Gregory’s claimed a share in the formation of Professor Amartya Sen who won a Nobel Prize for economics. He had been a student of St. Gregory’s in part of class three and four during 1941-42. During a visit to Dhaka on December 19, 1998, he visited the school of his childhood and was present at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new school building.

Basketball was introduced into the school in 1923 which is believed to be the first time basketball was played in the country. In July 1923, father Hennessy gained permission to change the European style school to the education board examination. On June 2, 1924, permanent recognition was granted to St. Gregory’s.

Shaheed teachers and the Massacre in 1971

Two of the three teachers of St. Gregory’s High School who were murdered by the occupying Pakistani army in 1971 were kidnapped from the school premise on March 31, 1971. The teachers were taken to a nearby army camp in Jagannath College. On that day, the two teachers, Mr. N.C. Sutradhar and Mr. D.N. Pal Chaudhury, along with two of his teenage sons, who were students of St. Gregory’s at the time, were murdered.

Mr. Monoranjan Poddar, a student of Jagannath College and Mr. Sutradhar’s brother-in-law was also kidnapped by the army from the school and was murdered on March 31, 1971. At least 30 other people were taken from St. Gregory’s High School that day who were also murdered by the army. Brother Robert, C.S.C., the Head Master of the school, tried to secure the two teachers’ release but failed.

The Pakistan army killed the retired teacher, Mr. Peter D'Costa, with 13 other villagers at Rangamatia Village of the then Dhaka District on November 26, 1971.

Co-curricular clubs of the school

These include Science club, Debating club,and Cultural club. Science club, which is run by Mr.Nilotpal Sarkar, takes part in science fairs.

Notable alumni

• Matlub Chowdhury - owner of Nitol Niloy Group, President of Bangladesh-India Chambers of Commerce.
• Ershad Sikdar - freedom fighter.
• Kela Kacchu - artist.
• A. K. Faezul Huq - former Minister, lawyer, and freelance journalist.
• Dr. Amartya Sen - economist and Nobel Laureate in Economics (1998).
• Tajuddin Ahmed - first Prime Minister of Bangladesh
• Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf - former Food and Disaster Management and Relief Minister of Bangladesh.
• Dr. Kamal Hossain former Law and Justice minister of Bangladesh.
• Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya - Executive Director of CPD, Bangladesh.
• Dr. Sirajul Islam Choudhury - former professor of English, Dhaka University.
• Dr. A.Q.M. Bodrudozza Chowdhury - former president of Bangladesh.
• Dr. Osman Farooq - former Education Minister of Bangladesh, 2001–2006)
• Dr. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury - former Vice-Chancellor of BRAC University, Bangladesh.
• Mahfuz Anam - Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Star.
• Shariar Kabir - writer and human rights activist.
• Khaleque Nawaz Khan - Language Movement hero and politician.
• Raqibul Hasan - first cricket captain of Bangladesh.
• Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Choudhury - Foreign Affairs Advisor, People's Republic of Bangladesh.
• Ahmad Tariq Karim - Minister of State/High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, former Additional Foreign Secretary, and Bangladesh Ambassador to Iran, South Africa, and U.S.A.)
• Dr. Ahrar Ahmad - Professor of Political Science, Black Hills State University, South Dakota, USA.
• Mohdudul Huq - Senior Planner, Planning and Development Department, City of Houston, Texas, USA.
• Sayed Hossain - novelist, photographer, teacher, economist, USA.
• Shafiqur Rahman - Senior Systems Analyst, State University of NY, USA, 1963 SSC.

Scholarships

• A. K. Faezul Huq Scholarship

Bibliography

• D'Costa, Jerome (1988) Bangladeshey Catholic Mondoli (The Catholic Church in Bangladesh), Vol.I, pp. 470–471, Dhaka: Pratibeshi Prakashani.